Spreading its misery
Flooding, likely tornado damage as Harvey hits Deep South
Harvey spread its misery into the Deep South as flooded creeks drove people from their homes in Tennessee and an apparent tornado damaged homes and toppled trees in a rural area of northwest Alabama.
More than 50 people were evacuated from a Nashville neighbourhood due to flooding from Harvey, but no deaths or injuries have been reported, according to a statement Friday morning from the Nashville Office of Emergency Management.
The agency said remnants from Harvey dumped nearly 23 centimetres of rain in some areas over a 24-hour period and crews responded to dozens of calls overnight requesting aid. About 40 people took refuge in a Red Cross shelter set up at a church.
Richard Williams said he and his wife were rescued from their home south of Nashville overnight. He told WTVF-TV that his wife had to be rescued from her hospice bed by raft.
“When I woke up, the water was
up to my waist and up to my wife’s hospital bed,” Williams said.
By Friday morning, most watersheds in the Nashville area were returning to normal levels, emergency officials said.
Near Monteagle, northeast of Chattanooga in south-central Tennessee, Interstate 24 was shut down in both directions Friday after high winds knocked down powerlines across the highway.
Traffic was backed up for miles.
The rains also caused flooding in low-lying streets in Memphis, as the western Tennessee city reported power outages late Thursday and rivers in the area swelled. Though still a tropical depression, Harvey also began to shed its tropical characteristics overnight as its rain bands extended farther across Tennessee and Kentucky on its forecast path toward the
Ohio Valley.
At 4 a.m. CDT Friday, Harvey’s core was located about 65 kilometres southwest of Nashville, the National Hurricane Center reported.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 km/h and was moving northeast at 26 km/h. Forecasters said the storm likely would dissipate this evening around Ohio.